


Angel Hair

by norwegian_galaxies



Series: No Matter What [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Bullying, Dysphoria, Hurt/Comfort, Metaphorical Angels, Trans Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 22:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15783693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/norwegian_galaxies/pseuds/norwegian_galaxies
Summary: Matthias Køhler has been beat to Hell just for being himself.Thankfully, an angel is there to help him.





	Angel Hair

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got my hair cut yesterday, and I got this lil idea. From rereading the other two No Matter What stories. So, yep, here ya go. This is a prequel, so it happens before the other stories. They're in high school in this one.
> 
> Tino is just a metaphorical angel. He's not an actual angel with wings and a halo.

_My name is Matthias Køhler._

_My name is Matthias, not Mari._

_Matthias, not Mari._

_MATTHIAS, NOT MARI._

Soft, sky blue eyes blinked open.

Matthias couldn't move. Everything was blurry, everything was hurting.

He tried to sit up, but pain sliced through his body and he fell back. "Are you okay?" a voice asked. The voice was soft, calming. Like an angel. Matthias liked that voice. It sounded safe and trustworthy. He twisted his head to the side to look for the voice's owner. However, he only saw shoes.

The angel voice ended up belonging to a freshman named Tino. Matthias found that out when he pulled him up with surprising strength and helped walk him to the nurse's office.

"Are you okay?" the angel repeated the question again, after laying Matthias down on a cot, a worried look on his face. The nurse wasn't in the room yet, she was at lunch. The Dane shook his head, and Tino sighed. "That's not good," he replied. "You're very beat up."

Matthias nodded bitterly. He could feel that.

"I heard some yelling down the hall earlier, were you getting bullied?"

The Dane tried to talk, but his jaw ached. He rubbed it before saying, "Yeah," He felt detached tears dripping down his face. "Th-they called me names, too."

"Like what?"

Matthias didn't know why he was so comfortable talking with a complete stranger. He knew that Tino was probably like the people who beat him up, too. He shifted, and hissed at the pain that once again shot through his body. "They called me... _Mari_..." he whispered, in a small voice.

The angel tilted his head curiously. " _Mari_? As in, Mari _Køhler_? But isn't that who you are?"

Matthias shook his head, and he was hit with a sudden crying spell, and he turned away from Tino.

"Wait..." Realization dawned on Tino's face, and he nodded, understanding what the wild blonde was saying. "Oh."

"My name's _Matthias_ ," the Dane whimpered, curling up in a ball, despite how much it hurt. "I kept t-telling them that over and over, but they wouldn't listen..."

He felt warm arms pulling him into an embrace. "Matthias," Tino said, quietly, "I'm so sorry they did that to you." Matthias hugged the Finn back, squeezing him tightly. Everything started hurting a little less. "I didn't know, I'm sorry."

Tears streamed down face the Dane's face. "Th-they tried to take off my clothes to prove I was a girl, Tino. They beat me up."

"Well, Matthias, you put up a fight, obviously," Tino chuckled a little. Matthias loved the way his name sounded when Tino said it. In fact, he loved just hearing his name right then in general, he'd been hearing "Mari" over and over for the past hour. "You stood up for yourself."

"I know, but it still hurts," Matthias sighed, and the pain flared up once again, like it wanted to remind him that it was still there. He gritted his teeth, willing it to go away again. His tears had slowed down, however.

The angel nodded. "Those were awful people. I wish I could report them as a witness."

"I didn't even know who they were." The Dane rubbed his head, trying to remember, but the only thing he remembered was what they had done, and what they had called him.

"Well, if they beat you up again, I'll hunt them down. Nobody deserves this." Tino pulled away, clenched his fists, and glared down at the floor. "Do you want me to stay with you in here when the nurse comes?"

Matthias shook his head, wiping the tears off his face and giving Tino a weak smile. "Don't worry about me, it'll be okay. They'll send me home anyways. They always do."

"Wait, what? This has happened _more than once?!_ " Tino yelped, eyes wide and angry.

Matthias nodded.

"Those _fuckers_ ," The Finn said, through clenched teeth. "I'll fucking kill them when I get the chance."

"Please don't," Matthias replied, shivering at Tino's sudden rage. "If I don't deserve it, they don't either." For some strange reason, he felt empathy towards the people that had beat him up, even though he knew he shouldn't have.

"But they do deserve it," Tino said, throwing his hands up in the air. "No person should be treated like you are, just because they want to be themselves." He stood up from the cot and smiled at Matthias once again. "Lunch break is almost over, so I ought to get back. Berwald is probably looking for me."

And then, with that, Matthias' angel left.

*

Matthias was alone in the nurse's office, still sitting upright on the cot. The pain dulled down to an ache. He looked around the empty room and spotted something glinting on the nurse's desk.

 _Scissors_.

He stood up, ignoring the ache in his legs, limping over to the desk and grabbing the scissors, turning them in his hands like one might with a precious gemstone.

He looked in the mirror across the room and got a crazy idea. He limped over to stand in front of the mirror.

A very girly face stared back at him, blue eyes wide. Bruises covered his face, there were dried tear-stains on his cheeks. There was a cut on his lip, and blood was dripping from his nose.

A blonde braid fell over one of his shoulders.

He raised the scissors, prayed that they were strong and sharp enough, and closed them around the braid.

 _Snip_. 


End file.
